SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Familiarity or Aaron Rodgers?
That’s what Marquez Valdes-Scantling’s decision boiled down to this week. Would the wide receiver join former Green Bay Packers teammate Rodgers with the Pittsburgh Steelers, or land with the San Francisco 49ers, where he could hit the ground running?
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“He wanted me back over there,” Valdes-Scantling said Thursday.
Valdes-Scantling said it was “50-50” for a while, but he decided the 49ers were a better career choice. He joined their practice squad on Thursday, though that appears to be a bit of a technicality due to his guaranteed contract with the Seattle Seahawks, who cut him Tuesday. He can be elevated for Week 1 and then promoted to the active roster sometime thereafter.
The seven-year veteran noted he spent half of the 2024 season playing under New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, whose younger brother, Klay, has the same job with the 49ers. Which means he can contribute quickly.
“There’s a lot of carryover with the system, being able to come in right away and not he to learn a whole new system,” he said.
New 49ers WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling is wearing No. 83…
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It also doesn’t hurt that the Seahawks are the 49ers’ Week 1 opponent. Klint Kubiak moved from New Orleans to Seattle in the offseason, which is why the Seahawks signed Valdes-Scantling — who had 17 receptions for 385 yards and four touchdowns in only eight games with the Saints last season — in free agency.
“It definitely wasn’t news I was expecting,” he said of his Tuesday release. “Like I said, I was brought over with that OC to continue what we did the year before. So when the news happened, it was a shock to me.”
He noted that he spent the last five months going against Seattle’s defensive backs and would share what he knew with his new position mates.
“Of course I’ll be able to say, ‘Hey, this is the type of thing that gives them trouble. Or this is the type of coverage they like to play. This is the style of football these corners like to play,’” he said. “It’s not any knowledge that anyone else doesn’t he if they just turn the tape on. Everybody does the same thing on film that they do the next game. It won’t be much that I can say that hasn’t been said already.
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“But I’ll obviously be able to give more insight to the receivers about how certain guys play certain leverages and stuff like that.”
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The Niners had only two healthy wide receivers on their initial 53-man roster. The team might not be done after adding Valdes-Scantling.
Valdes-Scantling said the 49ers showed interest in him following his four-year stint with Rodgers and the Packers ended in 2021, and that they were also circling after he hit free agency two years later. The receiver’s familiarity with the system and his 4.37-second 40 speed are obvious draws for coach Kyle Shanahan.
An added bonus: Growing up in St. Petersburg, Fla., Valdes-Scantling was a huge fan of then-Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety John Lynch.
“Now he’s my GM, and I get to talk to him every day. It’s cool,” Valdes-Scantling said. “I’ve got Raymond James tattooed on my back. I love that place. It’s home to me. All those Buccaneers were idols to me growing up.”
Odds and ends• Former 49ers and New England Patriots receiver Kendrick Bourne is scheduled to visit the 49ers on Monday, a league source said, presumably to check on the foot issue that held him out of Patriots training camp this summer. Bourne, 30, posted a video to YouTube on Thursday morning saying his foot “feels great.” Bourne also has a visit scheduled Tuesday with the Washington Commanders. Their general manager, Adam Peters, was with San Francisco when Bourne arrived in 2017.
• Guard Dominick Puni (knee) and defensive tackle Kalia Dis (undisclosed) were running on a side field Thursday and appear on track to practice next week. Puni had no sleeve on his knee like he did last week. If healthy, both are likely to start in Seattle on Sept. 7.
• The others on the 53-man squad who didn’t practice: receivers Jauan Jennings (calf), Russell Gage (knee) and Jordan Watkins (high ankle), and defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos (knee). Gross-Matos is expected to take part in his first practice of the season next week.
• To make room for Gage, the team cut safety Richie Grant. They also added a running back, Sincere McCormick, to the practice squad.
(Photo of Marquez Valdes-Scantling: Todd Rosenberg / Getty Images)